Ya es Hora Coalition to Launch Second Phase of “Ya es Hora: Libera Tu Voz” Campaign to Engage Latino Youth to Register to Vote on National Registration Day

New York – SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 – After hosting “Meet the Candidates,” the first-ever events of their kind targeting Hispanic American voters with President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate, Governor Mitt Romney, Univision Communications Inc., the leading media company serving Hispanic America, together with the Ya es Hora coalition, announced today it will launch phase two of its civic engagement campaign to increase voter registration “Ya es Hora: Libera tu voz” (Unleash your voice) on “National Voter Registration Day,” this coming Tuesday, September 25. The initiative, which began in April of this year, aims to engage all Latinos eligible to vote in the United States to register to vote, and participate in the upcoming elections. As part of the second phase’s launch, the network will also premiere a series of bold Public Service Announcements (PSAs) featuring prominent Hispanic artists.

To date, the “Libera tu voz” campaign has been successful in registering almost 20,000 people to vote at more than 100 voter registration events hosted by local Univision stations in partnership with Ya es Hora coalition members and other non-profit groups. Furthermore, through the unique “Ya es Hora: Libera tu voz” website, over 10,000 users have tapped into the online voter registration tool.

“Our goal for the Ya es Hora campaign is to ensure that every eligible Latino in the country, registers and exercises their vote,” said Cesar Conde, president of Univision Networks. “The message that we are delivering is that our voice is in our vote. With more than 12 million Latinos expected to cast ballots in this election, we are poised to be a deciding factor in who becomes the next president of the United States.”

Phase two of the first-ever bilingual Ya es Hora campaign will debut a new series of PSAs, featuring national Univision personalities and popular Latino artists, including rock-pop singer/songwriter Juanes, actor Wilmer Valderrama, Puerto Rican salsa singer Victor Manuelle, tropical fusion music duo Chino y Nacho, pop singer/novela actress Belinda and bachata star Prince Royce, among others. The PSAs will focus on reaching the highly coveted 18-24 Hispanic demographic, highlighting the power of the young Latino vote. With 50,000 teens turning 18 and becoming eligible to vote every month, invited Latino artists featured in the campaign will encourage young Latino citizens to express themselves and let their voices be heard by registering and encouraging their friends to do so as well.

On September 25, Univision and its partner organizations will ramp up all of its multi-platform efforts for “National Voter Registration Day.” The network will also produce a special voter engagement segment featuring Univision news anchor María Elena Salinas, which will air on local stations and streamed online. Throughout phase two, Univision will also continue efforts for the Ya es Hora “Libera tu voz” campaign via national and local programming, radio, online, mobile and social media platforms.

Univision’s “Ya es Hora: Libera tu voz” campaign is a continuation of the company’s historic efforts toward increased Latino civic participation in the U.S. The initiative is led in a joint effort between Univision and national Latino organizations and media partners, including the NALEO Educational Fund, Mi Familia Vota, the National Council of La Raza, ImpreMedia and Entravision Communications Corporation.

For information on this election cycle, registration and voting, visit liberatuvoz.com online or on your mobile device, call 888-Ve-Y-Vota/888-839-8682 or text VOTE to 62571. The community can also engage via social media on facebook.com/yaeshora.eng or @yaeshora2012 on Twitter, and access information, including event locations, resources and information on foursquare.com/Univision.